The things I do not tell
even to myself.
Are the same secrets the
blossoms know when they
proliferate the cherry tree.
Even as they prepare
to fall like confetti.
They are the
babbling secrets
of the brook as its waters
bounce stunned
into the rocks of the rapids.
Hush! whispers the librarian
As the rows
and volumes of books
keep their dusty secrets
in shadowed silence.
In the garden
the fluted speakers
of the morning glory
sing only a song of silence.
As I fall asleep
in the nighttime quiet.
Just the taunting voices
Of the nocturnal whip-poor-will
Never tell!
Never tell!
Never tell!

There are secrets I do not tell
even to myself.
They are the same secrets
the cherry bossoms
know when they
proliferate the cherry trees.
Even as they prepare
to fall like confetti.

They are the
babbling secrets
Of  the mountain streams
as thier waters bounce stunned
into the rocks of the rapids.

Hush whispers the librarian
As the rows
and volumes of books.
Keep their dusty secrets
in her silence.

In the garden
The fluted speakers
Of the morning glory.
Sing only silence
Falling asleep
into dreaming nights.

Just about audible
the taunting voices
Of the
whippoorwill

Never tell
Never tell
Never tell.

I am the secret story
she writes on her heart.
It is written in
a beautiful hand.
Each letter scripted
in old fashioned
copper plate.
when she reads it
I know she is close
and mist of lovelight
falls over me.
At home or work or at play.
And as if by some
mystical command
I find my way back to her
and share a kiss.
As she writes
a further chapter
onto her secret book.
she says I can read it
when it is finished.
I asked how long
will that be.
she whispered
Never.

This dinner party is formal
like all the ladies
I am wearing my gown
my invite was  for me
and plus  one.
but its just me here.
all the gentlemen
are in tuxedos.
the man seated to my right
is deliciously, attractive.
I nightdream of him
unfastening my gown
and drowning me
in his  wickedness.
The heady fragrance  
of his  cologne, adds
to the dream.
I wonder over the hum
of voices in the room.
is he the one I have
searched for for so long
the one I know is out there
in the big somewhere.
Our glasses clink in toast.
he bites sensuously into a
fresh summer strawberry.
its heavenly juices
leaving thier sweetest fragrane
onto his tongue.
He smiles at me
his eyes glancing
at my cleavage.
I feel like a spider
tempting him into my web.
The bait has been swallowed.
I smile back at him.
I wonder if he will taste
of strawberries later
when I loosen my hair
from its tight french roll.

Seeking Me

When you look at me my love
What do you really see?
The ashes of a lost soul.
I have no Phoenix to rise in me.
Only a slow burning candle
That one day will extinguish
without notice.

When you touch me
What do you really feel.?
I am like ice, so cold inside.
I need to melt in the sunlight
I want to let in your warmth.
Before old age will
extinguish my light.
To find out who I am.
Fill me with creativity
once again.

When we talk my love
What do you really hear?
The musings of a wannabe poet
Pouring mediocrity from
A faded lexicon.

Why do you still support me?
A man who is calling  
for the candle to burn and release him.
A boy still afraid of the darkness.
A man-child needing your softness.
Still seeking myself after forever.

My dear Lord,
Oh God
If you can still find me.
In your deserts of the sands of time.
Where I am but a grain of sand.
If I am not one of your lost souls .
Take me to a place where I can see.
A mountain top, a clear sky, an eternity.
And fill my soul with all that is you.
And in the strongest holy truth.
Tell me who I am*.

Seeking Relationship Profile

*I am a unique color.
There's not one
like it anywhere in this world.
I suppose you would need
to meet me to see if it was
the exact hue you needed.
In a perfect world there is
someone out there who does.
I am looking for compatibility.
where my color compliments yours.
There must be an artist
who needs exactly my color
to complete their
perfect painting.

After you left me
I know it was my fault
the drinking the depression
sure it was me
it's always me.
I stopped seeing the therapist
she was right
I was the cause of my downfall
I needed to man up and change.
but I don't want to change
my brain and my heart
have been in a knife fight
all my life
I like my flaws
perfect things are boring.
so if this means I am broken
and less lovable
I don't care.
I like my flawed poems
better than her therapy.
they don't care how flawed I am
and never ever judge me

September 10th 2001

*I am sat in a small cafe
across the street stands
the timeless twin towers.
Man's living towers of Babel.
Perhaps waiting for
an angry Gods wrath.

It is still late summer.
The evening is sultry
Almost as if it understands.
The loss of the two vertical cities.
That the new morning will bring.
death and bloodshed
to my beloved New York.

A moment of silence falls
broken by the solitary cry
of a foraging
seagul above me.
The air becomes
oppressively saturated.
The foreteller of a big storm.

The invisible pale rider
passes by on a pale horse.
The street is crowded
with almost visible
black angels.
They wait with folded
black wings in their hoards.
Patiently waiting for their charges.

My soul shouts for them to leave.
To go back to their paradise.
But their throng
is now in the thousands.
A huge black cloud
that is only visible
through closed eyes.

They are silent.
giving no clue to their gathering.
But I know it is a harbinger
of destruction.
And that in hours
The world will change forever.

September Carol

The last of the crimson maple
Falls into the winds of autumn.
Bare and skeleton fingers
reach out to the clouds of winter.
Awaiting its down feathered coats
Of purity and cleansing snow.

On the branch a single decoration
Of the coming festive season.
A snow white dove that sits alone
Deciding not to fly to warm
Southern climes.
But perhaps to await the return
Of its missing feathered mate.
In a final act of lifelong devotion.

I too feel the melancholy
of the changing seasons
Tired of its continual flow
From spring to summer
and autumn to winter.
Mimicking my own
Fragile mortality.

September 11 2001

As a little girl in grade two
he sat next to me at school.
I always liked him.
no much more than that.
Later in high school
we walked home together.
He would carry my books.
At graduation he was my date.
We even went to college together.
That was when we broke the chains
of friendship and he became my lover.
My first and only love.

We married young
it was no surprise
to our parents
they were expecting it.
Before I knew it
we had three kids.
Two girls and a boy.
Our son looks just like him.

It was just like any other day
He came home from work
Cooked burgers on the barbeque.
We got the kids to bed
drank a glass of wine
went to bed at ten.

He wanted to make love
but I was exhausted
the kids had been terrors all day.
The next day he kissed me goodbye
With a see you later honey.

I got a call from my friend
She said put on the TV
I saw the towers fall
Turning to ashes
Like my life did that moment.
All I could think was
I wish I had made love
to him last night.

September 11 2015

The children are all grown up now
He would be so proud of them.
I look at my strong handsome son.
He looks like him exactly
We stand at ground zero
and say a prayer.

I whisper it was always you honey
Only you.
As if by magic he answered me
A giant beautiful rainbow
Circled over New York
And I know for sure
it was for me.

September  Rainbow
A 9/11 Story
By
Jude Kyrie
Dedicated to all who lost on 9/11
September 11, 2001


As a little girl,
he sat next to me
at junior school.
I always liked him.
No  much more than that.

Later at high school
we walked home together.
He would carry my books.
At graduation,
he was my date.
We even went
to college together.

That was when
we broke the chains
of friendship and
he became my lover.
My first and only love.

We married young
it was no surprise
to our parents.
They were expecting it.

Before I knew it
we had three kids.
Two girls and a boy.
Our son looks just like him.

September 10, 2001

It was just like any other day.
He came home from work
Cooked burgers
on the backyard barbeque.

We got the kids to bed
drank a glass of wine
went to bed at ten.
He wanted to make love
but I was exhausted
the kids had
been terror's all day.

September 11,2001

The next day
he kissed me goodbye.
With a see you later honey.
I got a call from my friend
She said quickly
put on the TV.

I saw the towers fall
Turning to ashes
Like my life did
at that moment.

All I could think was
I wish I had made love
to him last night.

September 11, 2015

The children are all
grown up now.
He would be
so proud of them.

I look at my strong
handsome son.
He looks like him exactly.

We stand at ground zero
and say a prayer.
I whisper
it was always you honey
Only you.

As if by magic
he answered me
A giant beautiful rainbow.
Circled over New York City.
And I know it was for me.

A cool whisper calls
in the familiar breeze.
In the wind a single maple leaf
red and graceful
dances for the last time.
Even the plants of colored summer
look ready for sleep bowed and
bloated with seeds of renewal
for other Seasons yet to come.
The once rich azure blue of the sky
has altered its hue to cooler shades.
A lone rain spot kisses my cheek
with chilled lips.
The voice of summer
fades in the distance
As the winds of autumn
pick up their rustle in the trees.
Even the flocking birds know
that things are changing.
Autumn sends a thousand
hints of its arrival

The last of the crimson maple
Falls into the winds of autumn.
Bare and skeleton fingers
reach out to the clouds of winter.

Awaiting its down feathered coats
Of purity and cleansing snow.
On the branch a single decoration
Of the coming festive season.
A snow white dove that sits alone
Deciding not to fly to warm
Southern climes.

But perhaps to await the return
Of its missing feathered mate.
In a final act of lifelong devotion.

I too feel the melancholy
of the changing seasons
Tired of its continual flow
From spring to summer
and autumn to winter.
Mimicking my own
Fragile mortality.

September Song

Last night I dreamed
of the summer rain
Pouring in a summer deluge.
Cotton shirt soaking to the skin.
Translucent it sticks to my body.

The summer rain from my dream
Had drenched the woodlands
Greening the foliage.
Opening the parched flowers.
Filling the world with dreaming

Last night I dreamed
of the summer rain.
Pouring down my window pane
Distorting the outside world
Like a hall of mirrors

Last night I dreamed
of the summer rain
And when I awoke
The summer had ended
And the ground was carpeted
With bright vermilion  
maple leaves.

You are a common thief.
if he was an object
and not a man
you would go to jail.

I watch from above
you have quenched his fire
he flickers like a dying candle.
He pours black pain
into bowl called despair.
you have crippled him with
your selfish abuse.

Give him back to me
let him heal in my glow.
let me bathe his wounds
and let him come back.

How a ***** like you
can utter the word love.
and keep my wild beast
chained I do not know.

Bring him home
let me give him
Back his ferule spirit.
Even if I have to
set him free
to run again
in the wilds.

I know why we split up.
The constant drama
and arguments
the thrown plates.
The fighting
you hit me twice
once with a rolling pin.
but oh my the make up ***
wow! there was nothing like it.
I know I am gasoline
you are a open flame.
I know we should be apart
we will drive each other crazy.
But now is not one of those times
come back my love
come back tonight.
Set me ablaze with your fire.
God! how I miss your ****** heat.

Together we are fire and gasoline.
Maybe thats why you left me.
I miss the explosions and weapon fire.
This house is too quiet now.
Walking down your street
Never calling you seems right.
Going away from where
I know you will be
Is politically apprpriate.
Now is not one of these times
Come back to me my love
Pour your fuel all over me.
Light your match
Set me on fire again.
I miss your dammed heat.

you. are a common thief.
if he was property
and not a man
you would go to jail.

I watch from above
you have quenched his fire.
He flickers like a dying candle.
He pours black pain
into bowl called despair.
You have crippled him with
your selfish abuse.
you have chained my wildman
to the kitchen table.

Give him back to me
let him heal in my glow.
Let me bathe his wounds
and let him come back.

How a ***** like you
can utter the word love.
and keep my wild beast
chained I do not know.

Bring him home
let me give him
back his feral spirit.
Let me give him his domain.
Even if after he is healed
I have to set him free
to run again
in the urban wilds.

You are so beautiful.
Seventeen as fresh as new life.
Even your tears turn into spring rain.
So unlike mine which burn like acid.
All your young days I tried to forearm you
That the softness of a mans words
can cut like razor blades.
When they say goodbye.
That love is a beautiful rose.
That tears the flesh with its thorns.
And that even memories
Can sting like hornets.
You are so young.
And even with all my teachings
you have learned that pain
flows through the heart
Into the bloodstream
and burns Everywhere.
You think this is
of your own invention.
Your sweet young soul
Is so forgiving.
Absolving your young man
Of all of the barbed wounds
he inflicts on your heart
and of all the tears
you shed for him.
I want to hurt him
as he hurts you.
Find the pools of his man tears.
And drain them through his eyes.
But instead I hold you to me.
As you cry on my shoulder
And I say to myself
She is only seventeen
She will learn.

I kept the shadows locked outside
They were from another time
But I brought those shadows home
They were hiding in your wine.

You saw my glass was empty
So you filled it to the brim
I drank the blood red contents
And it let the shadows in.

The night is only darkness
I don't mind its gloomy call
But shadows they can taunt you
Playing memories on the wall

I asked what am I drinking baby?
You smiled and poured your wine.
I drank down your last swallow
And let the shadows in my mind.

Now there's no more wine left
The bottles running dry.
But the shadows are still dancing
I can see them in your eye

Watching shadows falling
Making figures on the wall
And like old memory calling
I have seen the shadows fall

I have sat here long remembering
Until the dark of night
Slides inward through the windows
And stole the last of light.

At the edge of the sea of memory
I have witnessed the tidal flow.
And heard the familiar murmurs
of a wave from long ago.

Sometimes in darkness I awaken.
By soft footsteps by my door
And I look and see your shadow
As it cast upon the floor.

I know it to be only a shadow.
For that soft and loving tread
Sought at an age that’s far to early.
The stairway of the dead.

So like a tune that’s half forgotten
that my hearts memory had kept.
I recall the sweetness of the sound
Of your soft and gentle step.

At the time when the last sunlight
Just mingles with the night.
Its darkness slowly falling
Shutting out the light

I am sure I hear your footsteps
treading softly as before.
I know I will not see you.
As they stand silent at my door.

The sobbing moon
pales against the yawning
sky of morning.
Alnost 6am
I wipe sleep from my eyes.
And look at you.
Serene and beautiful.
Your hair a yellow storm
on your pillow.
The shadows cross your face
changing hue silently.
As the shadows fade
i feel them weeping
from the sadness
of leaving you.
even for a short day.
i want to be like a shadow
dancing upon the surface of your skin.
so close to you it satisfies my need.
without waking you from slumber.
Instead my quill spills shadows
of ink as I write my desires
inside a poem that I placed
in the hands of a shadow.
The one that is dancing
upon your heart.

When she left and it was over
Did anybody care?
Did you notice the leaves were
turning to the color of her hair?

When the sunlight shines so brightly
is the time your eyes go blind.
But in the nighttime darkness
The faded memories rewind.

How did time go past so swiftly
Was I walking on the sand.
Coins that jingle in my pocket
Thoughts that jangle in my hand.

The worlds now like a spaceship
flying round and round the moon.
And her face is fading from me
Like a half forgotten tune.

Inside a watch the parts are ticking
Passing by all the precious years
In my head the seconds clicking
Are all rivers made of tears?

Will yesterday become tomorrow
Like a never ending rhyme.
Or will heartache only follow
In the shadows of my mind

Memories of you
are falling softly tonight.
Dripping and melting
like icicles in winter sunlight..
We sit at the opposite corners
Of the world now a millenium apart.
The space you made when you left
is still wide open and the cold gets in.

I pretend the smell of your hair
is morning fresh on my pillow.
And your side of the bed is warm
and comforting as it was when
you  left early for work.

Somewhere else in my dreams
I see the firelight an empty
bottle of wine and you.
Now and then I sit by
the winter window.
And swirl thoughts of us
In my breath that catches
on the pane.
Outside I see snowflakes
floatIng in silence
like frozen tears.

I have not the heart left  to fix the
wrinkles you left in my life.
Since most of my heart
went with you when you left.

Now when my fingertips softly
touch the the crystal vase
that was once us
I wonder if they will be cut
by the thousands
of shards of glass
You left in my life
when we
shattered it
on the floor.

She did not cry
perhaps that was the odd thing.
I saw the two soldiers at her front door
one wearing a chaplain’s uniform.
Her son was on active duty
in the desert war.
I knew at once
what the bad news would be.

I remember It was late springtime
and all through the days that year
I could see her working
nonstop in her garden.
Trimming transplanting weeding.
until the evening light
faded into darkness.

I have never seen such an abundance
of color and beauty.
Flowers and shrubs everywhere
a complete carpet of fragrant bloom.
The snipping of her
pruning shears never ceasing
like a cicada in August.

Lantern shaped blossoms hung down
from the beautiful flowering trees
like the tears
she herself could not cry.

She said her name was Mary.

I met her in a smoke filled haze.
Inside a dimly lit bar
where men go
to die of the blues.
And to drown in sadness.

Red wine staining our lips
her beautiful hair
Reached to her waist.
A smile of wild promises.
Containing the allure
Of every woman.

Are you him she asked?
I said
I think I am but I am lost.
She kissed my lips.
Her breath fresh
like the bloom of magnolias.

Come to me my lover
I have waited so long for you.
Bring me the cleansing
purity of your sweet love.

Powerless i follow her
I lay with her drowning
In the softness of all women.
She washed my sins away
Drying my soul with her hair.

Death cowered in the shadows
A spectre I no longer feared.
For now I had  seen heavens light
within her eyes..
When the morning light
melted the stars.
She left me

I begged her to stay.
She smiled and touched my cheek.
I am Magdalene
the farmer of men’s souls.
It us my destiny and my
journey on earth.
And my only
pathway to heaven.

She always dressed in black.
Like the cocktail party
Was about to happen.
I remember she changed her name
to Constance
because it sounded ******.
Her hands were cold as ice
She said it was her circulation
As her heart was in jar
inside the refrigerator.
I never saw her without
Steaming coffee or a glass
of blood red wine
in her manicured hand.
She called men
her entertainment
And me her latest toy.
Her hand was covered in rings
Ornate and bejewelled.
She said they were tributes
from her many past admirers.
She always wore heels
She said leggs are
a woman's secret weapon.
In her bedroom
She had a collection of whips
On the wall.
She never said
what they were for.

She’s leaving home.

*I look at you my beautiful daughter
In your hand a small suitcase.
The college is in the west coast.
We are glued to this eastern town.
How did it get to here so quickly?
You could not hide the excitement
Of your new found independence
From  your eyes.
I try to hide the
wistful sadness from mine.

I remember when I held onto
The seat of your bicycle
as a child.
How hard it was to let go.
My heart in my mouth
as you sped along
the asphalt path.
The uncertain wobbles
giving way to breakneck speed.

I felt this moment way back then
As your hair flowed back
Like a horses mane
shouting
look at me
but
Waving goodbye.

She was unique
that I know for sure.
She believed
there was no such place called hell.
But heaven existed
in every moonbeam that blossom.

She thought that
ice cream was for anytime.
She believed in
smiling and laughing.
And said frowns
were a crazy thing.

She believed in
making love,
oh boy!
Did she ever believe
in making love.

Then one magnificent
unbelievable day
She gave all her love to me.
She said let's fly
together for always.

I said that I could not fly.
But she said,
of course, you can fly silly.
Taking my hand in hers
We flew high
above the mountains.
Alongside the eagles.

In a place
where only true lovers
could breathe
the pure rarified air.

I am sorry
I fell in love with you.
You warned me upfront
not to fall in love with you.
I tried and really
tried hard not to.
But then you
Sang songs to me
from the book of love.
Spoke beautiful poetry
from the depths
of your heart.
Captivating me
with your words.
And even the butterfly’s
rested on my naked skin.

Not All  precious things have a value.
Not all in the dark are lost.
The tree that is strong does not wither
Its deep roots lie untouched by the frost.

Like the phoenix  from the ashes has woken
Like the rose under snow in the spring.
Like the heart that forever was broken.
Will soar like a bird on the wing .

This is the last poem
that will ever use you
and your boundless beauty
as a muse.
All the time I was with you
You were a star hanging
from the heavens.
I reached out into the dark night
to feel your light
touching my skin.
But last week I spent my time
in the mountains.
From there you can see forever.
into the blackness of space.
A countless billion stars spangled.
But yours was missing.
I saw some shooting stars.
And I realized yours
was one of them.
I knew it was you
Because my wishes
trailed behind it
like a long tail.
It faded to nothing
and from that moment
I felt safe again.

The good girl
Short story with a twist
By
Jude Kyrie

*Randy Evans was the ultimate family man at least in his own mind.
He had married Eva 18 years ago. He consumated their marriage on the wedding night.
This was the decent and proper way he mused.
He loved his daughter Janie now 16 with all his heart.
He brought her up to be the kind of woman he regarded as proper no friends without his approval of them and their parents.
Certainly no boy friends allowed at all.
She kept an A average at school and never gave them an ounce of trouble.
He hardly ever had to use his belt on her these days just a look would be enough to keep her in line.
Although the odd strapping did her no harm at all
It never hurt him in the long run when he father used it on him.
Yes he was the complete family man.and good father.

Janie came home and asked her father if she could sign up for the school trip to Washington it was three nights away from home.
Randy immediately said no those kids drink and smoke dope no way you can go.
You are a decent girl.
Yes Daddy said Janie not a inch f disagreement in her manner.
She had no intention of getting her bottom belted again.
Now help your mother prepare dinner Janie
She stood in front of the kitchen window looking into the  back yard edged by a wooded area.
Randy had moved them to the country away from the filthy inner city full of drugs and violence.
She was sobbing at the sink
What's up asked Randy is it because you can't go on the school trip?
No daddy I don't care about the trip he's back out there again I thought he was in the mental home.
He was four weeks ago well he's out there again daddy
Just staring at me like before.
Randy looked at the boy he was mentally challenged and had taken to stalking Janie.
Randy took his hunting rifle and went to the boy
Get away he yelled go home
and never come back or I will **** you with this ******* rifle you hear.
He was shouting a the top of his voice.the neighbors lights went on faces at the window.
He repeated I will I'll you get it?
But I love her sir she is my soulmate
the young disturbed boy whispered softly.
She loves me and I am going to marry her.
Randy fired a warning shot into the air.
The boy ran away into the woods.
Randy persuade him.
He lost him in the woodlands

He called Sheriff Black a  big man
Told him of the stalking it's back he cried.
Yep they said he was not dangerous the shrinks.
He said listen no more guns you hear that's my job.
I don't want to arrest you for criminal violence.

The next day Randy got home the women were crying
What's happening he shouted.
Someone broke in and ransacked Janie's bedroom
My ******* are missing and my bras.
Randy was beside himself
He went to the boys house his parents opened the door he just past them
Where is he that ******* ***** of a son of yours.
He's out the place was a disaster *****  washing and dishes all over the kitchen
Maids day off said Randy
Where's his ******* room.
Oh don't go there he will get mad with us please don't.
He pushed past her and saw his bedroom draw
It was locked Randy booted it open in contrast to the house it was organised spotlessly cleaned and neat.
A hospital made bed and neat closet all over the walls were pictures of Janie
She was naked in her bedroom her breast Photoshopped and enlarged
On the bed was was her bra and ******* laid out with a picture of her naked next to them
Alongside the bed the garbage pail was full of tissues he knew exactly what he had done
He's bashing the bishop watching her picture and undergarments.
Randy yelled I will  **** him I will  **** the ******* perv.
Rushing through the door he screamed threats all the way to his truck.
Then knocking the gatepost over and spilling the garbage cans he tore off leaving rubber marks on the tarmac.

He could not find him and returned home at midnight.
Sheriff Black was waiting
Where you been he said I was after that ******* kid
Did you get to him.
No I couldn't find him
He's dead beaten to death with a baseball bat with your name on it.
But I didn't do it.
The cuffs slipped on Randy's wrist.
The court case lasted two days
The jury was out in fifteen minutes.
Guilty of first degree ******
The witnesses telling of the threats to **** the boy the rifle discharge
The broken door of his bedroom the raging outburst leaving his home.
He go life without parole.

The TV in the prison was set to the news
He sat in the waiting room Janie was being interviewed by a lipstick covered reporter.
You have been through a terrible ordeal Janie
Yes but it's over now I am OK
What are your plans honey
Well I am going to Washington next week with my boyfriend and school friends for four days.
I am going shopping for new underwear mine was stolen.

He got it
He ******* well got it
It was Janie the little *****
He would tell her mother to get the ******* strap to work on her bare ***.
The penny dropped
She had given the slow boy her ******* and bra herself.
He thought she loved him.
The photos were hers she had taken them.
she had given them to him
The boy was a pawn
He was in love with her
He was just acting like any infatuated teenager.
And he was a ******* Patsy.

Janie fastened her new lacy bra it showed her beautiful breast off
Particularly with the **** low cut clinging shirt
Her boyfriend was going to love it.

If my eyes flowed with tears
That poured down like the rain.
Would you collect every one
In a lake that’s called pain

Would you trace all the rivers
As they flowed down my cheek
And recite all their poems
That I am too sad to speak.

Would you heal me with kisses
To dry the tears from eye
Would you say to me my pain
Is not your fault please don’t cry.

If I show you my tears
Will you show me your own
Can we hold close together?
To be never alone.

The tired old station wagon
Pulls to halt in my driveway.
The five children fall out
of its rusted doors noisily
shouting and laughing.

She turns off the sputtering engine.
Slips ghostlike from the drivers seat.

Her five hours of driving
In a bedlam of her children’s noise.
Looking so slight and frail.
My heart melts again.
I enfold her in my arms.

And whisper thanks for coming.
Even though I have moaned
About her children’s disruptions.
The extra work cooking
And entertaining.

I look into my sisters face
And whisper I love you Sis.
You are always welcome
In my house.
And in my heart.

Signpost to oblivion

When she threw me out
It was my fault I know.
The drinking had started again.
I slept in the car for days.
Locked out at night.
Yet still I drank
My job was lost.
But not as lost as me.
I remember waking
in the drunk tank.
I was ***** unshaven.
And my eyes were hollow.
She paid my bail.
I saw her through the bars
of the cell.
She was so beautiful.
And so clean and pure.
She whispered quietly
I always loved you.
I still do.
I felt so ***** I needed
A shower and shave.
But living rough is hard.
I quietly said thank you
I love you too.
She touched my cheek
With her finger tips
Like she used
to touch my skin
When we made love
In our clean bed.
She had tears in her eyes
As she saw what I had become.
She said softly
You know I lost our son as well.
As I stumbled away
to that signpost
for the town of oblivion

Signpost to oblivion

When she threw me out
It was my fault I know.
The drinking had started again.
I slept in the car for days.
Locked out at night.
Yet still I drank
My job was lost.
But not as lost as me.
I remember waking
in the drunk tank.
I was ***** unshaven.
And my eyes were hollow.
She paid my bail.
I saw her through the bars
of the cell.
She was so beautiful.
And so clean and pure.
She whispered quietly
I always loved you.
I still do.
I felt so ***** I needed
A shower and shave.
But living rough is hard.
I quietly said thank you
I love you too.
She touched my cheek
With her finger tips
Like she used
to touch my skin
When we made love
In our clean bed.
She had tears in her eyes
As she saw what I had become.
She said softly
You know I lost our son as well.
As I stumbled away
to that signpost
for the town of oblivion

A man goes to see his doctor.
He ask her to give him something
To cure his persistent Flatulance.
He said it was not a social problem.
As it happened all the time even
On the subway and in church.
But fortunately it had no sound
And no smell whateve.
He just wanted it to be stopped.
She took out her medical book
And prescribed the man
a cocktail of medications.
Come back in a week she said.
He was back in four days.
*** doctor you have to help me
Those pills have made it loud
It booms through the room
Whenever I pass gas.
She smiled
That's great
We have fixed your ears.
Now let's work on that nose.

I dream not of lifetimes
or infinity such grandiose
scales are not for mortals.
But of silent moments
just a conscious fraction of time
so small it does not
register in infinity.
That moment when
telephones email agendas
children and life.
slows down to
a screaming silence.
and even the flag
hangs limply
in the still air.

The odd thing was
she did not cry.
I remember the army chaplain
standing in her doorway.
Knowing at once the sad news.
Her son was on active duty
overseas with the Marines.

That summer she worked
tirelessly in her garden.
Day after day
from dawn to last light.

Transplanting pruning digging
her shears like a cicada in August..
I do not think
I have ever seen as much beauty.
Flowers everywhere
the whole garden an explosion
of the brightest colors.

Roses hollyhocks hydrangeas
filled the air with their fragrance.
And on the fruit trees
lantern shaped blossoms hung
downwards to earth.
drifting in the breezes.
Falling like the tears
she could not cry.

Silver Bells

Hear the tinkling of the bells
As horse drawn sleigh on snowy ground
The Christmas angels their joy foretells
In soft and pleasing jingling sound

Above the starlight bright for Christmas time
Inside the blessings of children’s sighs.
Angels singing carols in heavens choir
Children asleep with tired eyes

Mother and me sit by our fire.
Ready for bedtime to retire
Presents with secrets that no one tells
Christmas is here with silver bells

Full and bright the candled moon
Shines its glowing silvered bloom.
Widened eyes in wonder see
Silvered fruit upon silvered tree
All though the town the rooftops catch
Her silvered light upon their thatch.
The gentle coos their rhythm keep
Of nightingales in silvered sleep
The squirrels sleep in silvered trees
With silvered fur in silvered leaves.
Silent and still in silvered dream
Sleeping fish in silvered stream.

That night the moonlight
Poured through the bedroom window
Like a pail of spilled milk.
The two lovers bathed in its sweetness.
And their hearts became alive.

Soothing in its touch on their skin
The moon whispered tenderness
As it had done since time began.
It’s lights danced upon the floor
And sent joy into their hearts.
The silvered light washed away
All want and lust
Replacing it with gentleness

That night the moonlight
Poured through the bedroom window
Like a pail of spilled milk.
The two lovers bathed in its sweetness.
And their hearts became alive.

Silvered Screen Memories
By
Jude Kyrie*

The old Bijoux cinema closed today.
After all this time it closed its doors.
It is empty now overtaken by technology and time.
Perhaps a lot like me,
Its silver screens
have graced the best of Hollywood.

How often we sat there together my love.
Watching Bogart and Bacall share a kiss.
Later returning to our small flat
to make tea and love.

You were so beautiful my angel
All that I ever wanted or needed.
All that I ever prayed for.

Remember how I stood outside your flat

In the pouring Seattle rain
just to catch a glimpse of you.
I was young then and
so in love with you---So in love.

You have gone now of course
Such beauty is for the Gods
Not for ordinary men like me.
I shall miss this old place so much
Watching the old movies
flickering on the screen.
Thinking of our time together.

I know I did not move
on quiet as I should have done.
You see my love
My heart was very broken
and sadly
still remains so
even after all these years.

But sometimes in an old movie
that we had seen a hundred times.
Yes, I know the endings are always the same.
But In my heart.
I can feel your hand slip softly into mine
just like it used to.
And as I can feel it there,
just for a single moment
All is well in this world once more.

I would not change
a single thing about us my love.
Even knowing how broken
I would be after you left me.
And how my heart
would be vacant for evermore.

For once in my life,
I reached for a star,
and for a fleeting moment
I held it in my hands.

Full and bright the candled moon
Shines its glowing silvered bloom.
Widened eyes in wonder see
Silvered fruit upon silvered tree
All though the town the rooftops catch
Her silvered light upon their thatch.
The gentle coos their rhythm keep
Of nightingales in silvered sleep
The squirrels sleep in silvered trees
With silvered fur in silvered leaves.
Silent and still in silvered dream
Sleeping fish in silvered stream.

Since youl left me baby
I drink too much
I dont eat enough
I hardly sleep at all
my phone in my hand
I write long sad text to you
and never hit send.
It keeps my shaking hands busy.
looking at my ceiling
its like a movie screeen
I play videos of the other us.
who did  not fight drink wine
and hurl insults like grenades.
theres you serene and beautiful
me with a neat haircut
Hey I am holding our baby.
it fades and just the noise
from a police car siren screams
in the inner city street.
I light a cigarette.
the smoke cools my mood.
I am empty and desolate
I want to pray to a god
to turm me into the dude in the
ceiling video.
but he doesent hear me.
in the morning
I look into the mirror
over the bathroom sink.
I want to blame you
For the delipadeted wreck
that stares back at me
look at that he has tears
Streaming down his face.
I cant blame you
as hard as I try.
It was my fault.
only mine.
Mea culpa....Mea maxima culpa

(my fault..my most grievous fault)*9